Welcome to DBSTalk

Welcome to DBSTalk. Our community covers all aspects of video delivery solutions including: Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Cable Television, and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). We also have forums to discuss popular television programs, home theater equipment, and internet streaming service providers. Members of our community include experts who can help you solve technical problems, industry professionals, company representatives, and novices who are here to learn.

Like most online communities you must register to view or post in our community. Sign-up is a free and simple process that requires minimal information. Be a part of our community by signing in or creating an account. The Digital Bit Stream starts here!

Even upconverted SD will have to be better than the picture I've been getting on the SD channel. This past Friday parts of Flash Gordon were practically unwatchable because the cinematography made the picture so dark and fuzzy I could barely tell what was going on.

I'm glad that wasn't just me.... yes, parts of it were way too dark and impossible to make out.

I messed up and didn't get last fridays SGA, does anyone have any info of a title or replay? Thx Doo

It was part 1 of a 2-parter. So at least when you watch this week's they should have a "previously on" catch up leading in to the episode.Here's a little info on the episode:http://www.sg1archiv...lantis/s4.shtmlIt doesn't look like a replay is planned any time soon. Just check the scifi schedulebot: http://www.scifi.com...ebot/index.php3 . Do searches on "atlantis" to see what's coming up.

It was part 1 of a 2-parter. So at least when you watch this week's they should have a "previously on" catch up leading in to the episode.Here's a little info on the episode:http://www.sg1archiv...lantis/s4.shtmlIt doesn't look like a replay is planned any time soon. Just check the scifi schedulebot: http://www.scifi.com...ebot/index.php3 . Do searches on "atlantis" to see what's coming up.

It appears, from the guide that the daytime programming for SciFi is SD and the prime time stuff is HD. Eureka season finale rebroadcasts, I think, tonight. I have dual conflicts for whenever the rebroadcast is, so I did not pay much attention.

If you really want to see it and don't mind paying $1.99, you can download it from iTunes. Just have to make sure you select Season 4, since Season # seems to be the default. I just checked it out to confirm the availability.

No Closed Captioning on SCIFI-HD. Looks like I have to complain to NBC. I'm guessing that it won't be quick to come since they've yet to fix this on Universal-HD. I imagine Bravo-HD--also an NBC owned channel--is without captioning too.

I recently e-mailed to the SciFi Channel concerning lack of closed captioning on their HD channel.

Let me know if you get a response from NBC, just asking.

By the way, some of the shows like Surface and few others on Universial-HD have closed captioning and I could read them just fine.

Even upconverted SD will have to be better than the picture I've been getting on the SD channel. This past Friday parts of Flash Gordon were practically unwatchable because the cinematography made the picture so dark and fuzzy I could barely tell what was going on.

That's not the ONLY reason Flash Gordon is unwatchable It reminds me of a movie my friends and I made in 10th grade with our parent's old Camcorder. lol

Closed captioning in HD is a little different than cc in SD. In SD, the signal occupies line 21 but in HD, it is part of the picture as digital bits. As such, I don't think captioning will occur unless the TV sets and displays have this type of decoder, or the networks send out a separate cc stream.

I'm also not certain if the law that requires cc also pertains to HD. Just a thought but I believe it was only for SD programming, although I'm sure they could update it as necessary.

The cc issue could also be one that D* could remedy with their boxes and making access to the cc decoder an easy one-button setting.

Doctor Who is not shot in HD. They say it would be too expensive because of all the visual effects. Spinoff, Torchwood, is shot in HD and currently airs on HDNET. But it's not nearly as good.

Not shooting in HD is really a weak reason for Doctor Who. The effects are most likely done on the same equipment that do effects for Torchwood and even motion pictures. It is just whether they set the rendering to 720x486 vs 1920x1080.

Once Doctor Who comes out of its one season hiatus, maybe they will finally go to HD shooting. They will be doing three special episodes like the Christmas Special, but not a full season next year, but then they will return with a full set of episodes in 2009. Perfect time to move to HD.

Not shooting in HD is really a weak reason for Doctor Who. The effects are most likely done on the same equipment that do effects for Torchwood and even motion pictures. It is just whether they set the rendering to 720x486 vs 1920x1080.

I don't know how their costs work, but the show is a huge (International) hit and a marquee show for the BBC. Not presenting it in HD is retardis.

I agree. I guess the only reason they did it originally was to drop production costs in the first season because they (BBC) were not cure as to how popular the show's return was going to be. Well, duh! There is huge interest worldwide, so it isn't hard to figure out that they would make their money back hundred-fold. It also could have been the availability of HD equipment at the time. Who knows?